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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When the narrator lists the kinds of inappropriate relationships that May encourages, one of the items in the list is "old chaps" who dress up and "parade in front of the Normal School" (332). Who are these old men trying to impress with their fancy clothing?
(a) Young women training to become school teachers.
(b) Schoolgirls.
(c) Lower-class college-aged women.
(d) Female college professors.

2. What is the purpose of the allusion to the "virgin of Cologne" (334)?
(a) It implies that Miss Coulson is uninterested in romantic love.
(b) It characterizes Miss Coulson as cruel and selfish.
(c) It reminds the reader that Miss Coulson is very religious.
(d) It foreshadows later plot events.

3. Which neighborhood does Mr. Coulson live in?
(a) Lincoln Square.
(b) Chelsea.
(c) Gramercy Park.
(d) Carnegie Hill.

4. How does the narrator suggest the reader should respond to the poet who praises the month of May?
(a) With a punch in the eye.
(b) With a poem that condemns May.
(c) With more accurate scientific information.
(d) With laughter.

5. When Mr. Coulson continues quoting the poem and mentions "a livelier iris," what does Mrs. Widdup think he is talking about? (333)
(a) Flowers.
(b) The Irish.
(c) Eyes.
(d) A bird.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Mrs. Widdup go into Mr. Coulson's room in the afternoon on the second day of the story?

2. There are "jonquils" near where Mr. Coulson is sitting. What are jonquils?

3. According to the narrator, what does May want humans to remember?

4. Why does Mr. Coulson tell his servant to "bring an axe" (335)?

5. How does Miss Coulson spend the afternoon after her conversation with her father about the cold?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the titular allusion and the allusion to "the poet" in the first sentence of the story.

2. How does O. Henry use dry humor to reveal the narrator's opinion about Mrs. Widdup in the narrative intrusion on page 333?

3. How do words like "yaller" and "lawsy" in Mrs. Widdup's dialogue characterize her?

4. In the passage where Miss Coulson stares out the window, the reader is told "The chirp of the sparrows gave her a pain. She mocked at May" (334). To what earlier passage is this a reference, and what is the significance of the reference?

5. What is the thematic significance of the olfactory image of the city in springtime?

6. When rhetorical purposes are served by the passage where the narrator says that the scent of flowers was carried in through the window and "fought" with the scent of Mr. Coulson's gout medicine?

7. Explain the technique at work in the sentences "Sparrows wrangled happily everywhere outdoors. Never trust May" (333).

8. When Mr. Coulson finally confesses his feelings to Mrs. Widdup, what drawback to himself does he acknowledge, and what advantage does he say balances this drawback out?

9. What happens when Mrs. Widdup makes an excuse to go into Mr. Coulson's room to speak with him after the ice is delivered?

10. What rhetorical purposes does O. Henry accomplish with his introduction of Mr. Coulson through a list of things that he "has," like gout, money, and a daughter?

(see the answer keys)

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